As ex-Sheriff Paul Tanaka faces a Nov. 3 trial on corruption charges, the former undersheriff has requested that all charges against him be dropped based on federal documents recently obtained.
The documents indicated that Tanaka acted under the orders of former Sheriff Lee Baca, and within his job duties as a peace officer while investigating how a deputy smuggled a cell phone to an inmate who was an FBI informant, Tanaka’s attorney, H. Dean Steward, said.
As ex-Sheriff Paul Tanaka faces a Nov. 3 trial on corruption charges, the former undersheriff has requested that all charges against him be dropped based on federal documents recently obtained.
The documents indicated that Tanaka acted under the orders of former Sheriff Lee Baca, and within his job duties as a peace officer while investigating how a deputy smuggled a cell phone to an inmate who was an FBI informant, Tanaka’s attorney, H. Dean Steward, said.
Should the trial move forward, Steward requested that U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson grant Baca immunity to testify as Tanaka’s witness during the trial.
In court documents, Steward said that Baca should be granted immunity so that he can testify at Tanaka’s trial without invoking the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination.
Anderson will hear arguments regarding Tanaka’s immunity claims on Sept. 28, more than a month before the trial.
Meanwhile, William “Tom” Carey, Tanaka’s co-defendant in the corruption case, pleaded guilty in federal court to lying on the stand during the obstruction of justice trial last year in another deputy’s trial, the Daily Breeze reported.
Carey reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that requires him to cooperate with the federal government in Tanaka’s case, the article said. In exchange, prosecutors will drop the remaining charges against Carey.
Carey has been released on a $15,000 bond. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 25, 2016.
Tanaka and Carey were charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice in an attempt to impede the FBI and U.S. attorney’s investigation into brutality and corruptions by Sheriff deputies in the Men’s Central Jail, the Breeze reported. BothTanaka and Carey headed the Sheriff’s department internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, and are the two highest ranking officials facing charges.
